Martin Freeman: ‘In Sherlock I’m not the one doing brilliant stuff – that’s now changed’

Over a decade since Martin Freeman played a modern-day John Watson, the Sherlock star is diving back into the classic murder mystery genre – this time with Agatha Christie.

As Netflix brings its own spin to the tales of one of the greatest crime novelists of all time, the 54-year-old actor will bring to life a well-known detective from her literary canon – Superintendent Battle.

The crime-busting sleuth joins the star-studded cast of Chris Chibnall’s Seven Dials, in which a plucky young woman, Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce), conducts her own investigation after the sudden death of her lover Gerry (Corey Mylchreest).

The kooky ensemble also consists of her acerbic mother, Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter), best friend Jimmy (Edward Bluemel) and the ever-lovely Ronnie (Nabhaan Rizwan).

As the episodes go on, Battle shares centre-stage as he blows apart a conspiracy right at the heart of London while attempting to help bring about justice for a heartbroken Bundle – even if the pair clash heads more often than not.

Discussing his unintentional proclivity for iconic murder-mysteries, Martin revealed to Metro how he feels about stepping into the shoes of a sleuth.

‘The truth is, I never think about genre. I just go on: “Do I like the script?”. That is almost the beginning, middle and end for me of whether I do something or not,’ he said.

He’s used to helping crack an impossible case wide open as Holmes’ sidekick, Dr Watson, in the BBC’s 21st century adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved novels from ‘two very good contemporary writers’, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

Now, however, there’s been a role-reversal he’s happily taken into his stride.

Then added: ‘It was fun for me to play [Battle] because obviously, in Sherlock, I’m Watson, I’m not Sherlock. So I’m not the person doing the brilliant stuff.

‘And Battle isn’t brilliant in the same way that Sherlock Holmes is. He’s not like an out-of-this-world genius, but he is the person who gets stuff done, and he is the person who is deducing things, so that was fun, seeing it from that side.’

Meanwhile, Chris quipped it was nothing but ‘joyous’ bringing the Marvel star on board to play an ‘iconic character’ from the books that he could ‘make his own’.

After our first glimpse of him ‘skulking’ about in episode one, he gets to enjoy some real Christie-esque moments, including uttering the famed line: ‘We are all gathered here today blah, blah, blah…’.

‘I get to do that. It’s really good with wit and humour, and, yeah, it’s continuously subverting as well as playing to the Christie [archetype],’ he shared.

As for sharing the set with everyone from bright young stars to fellow industry titans, Martin added: ‘Being on set with very good people all trying to do our best work is the reason I want to do what I do.

‘You do want to be surrounded by people who are very talented and very committed and passionate about that stuff,’ adding, ‘it was really, really good fun.’

Naturally, any actor’s job is helped by a watertight script that draws you in and doesn’t let go until the credits roll, if then.

If there’s one thing Martin is sure of, it’s that the power duo of Chris (Broadchurch, Doctor Who) and Christie has delivered this in spades.

He explained: ‘Chris has done a very good job of tweaking that a little bit more without losing Agatha Christie in the process.

‘When you read the script, [it] doesn’t feel like you need any translation from old-timey stuff to now. [It] doesn’t feel like it’s really, really removed,’ he reflected.

Before joking: ‘That’s partly Christie’s great talent, doing something timeless, but [there’s] also the stuff that isn’t just Agatha Christie, it’s [Chris], because he’s funny, believe it or not. Some stuff in this is actually funny.’

Seven Dials is available to stream on Netflix from January 15, 2026.

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